I have a multi-dose bottle of Adequan that expired in 2020. It is crystal clear and had been refrigerated. Do I need to toss? Adequan says toss but one vet I asked actually said it’s fine 
Anyone want to weigh in?
I’d use expired pills like SMZ’s but not so sure about this.
I wouldn’t use an expired injectable. Too risky. Expired oral medicine wouldn’t scare me as much.
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6 months out? I’d use it. 12+ months? Not a risk I’d take with an injectable. At best it’s not very effective. I know Adequan says toss it because they don’t want to be responsible for ANYthing that happens if you use it, even if it’s just a normal injection site reaction.
It probably IS safe to use as long as it’s never been opened, but it’s not a risk I’d take
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Someone in my barn used expired Adequan and everyone’s fine… I personally wouldn’t do it myself. I would assume it would be like many drugs and just lose potency over time.
I have a fellow boarder who is a pharmacist. She told me that those bigger bottles aren’t meant to be used the way people think they are ( ie, bottle contains 10 doses - use once per month for 10 months). Her statement: once the seal is punctuated, it’s only good for 3-4 weeks. I would not take the risk.
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Thank you for bringing this up. The various guidance documents on multiple-dose vials from the FDA/USP/CDC (which are for human pharmaceuticals but are generally applied to animal meds unless superseded) all essentially say that the “beyond-use date” for an opened or entered (e.g., needle-punctured) multiple-dose container is 28 days, unless otherwise specified by the manufacturer in the label. In other words, once the vial is opened/entered you have 28 days to use it.
It’s also worth noting that the 28 days assumes you utilize proper aseptic technique for drawing up the doses to help reduce the possibility of bacterial contamination . I’d be curious how many people actually utilize this.
As others have noted, the Adequan i.m. Multi-Dose labeling also specifically calls this out:
Use within 28 days of first puncture and puncture a maximum of 10 times
Even if a vial hadn’t been opened/punctured, if it’s well past the expiration date there’s the potential for the vial stopper/seal to have degraded and allowed contamination.
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I did this too so you have my sympathy. It hurt to throw out that whole bottle. But that’s what I did. Better to be safe than sorry.
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